A lorry drives through flood water under a bridge in Galgate, Lancashire, as heavy rain caused widespread flooding and travel disruption. Photo credit: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Water reached up to 2ft high in many properties, destroying furniture as well as damaging cars which bore the brunt of the water sweeping through the streets.

Claire and Steve Coultas first noticed the rainwater coming in the front of their house at around 9pm.

The couple, who live in Main Road with their children Malchi, 10, Niamh, six, Madison, five, and four-year-old Nia-Marie, said they were unaffected by Storm Desmond in 2015 and hadn’t been expecting any problems.

Claire said: “I went to the shop at about 9.20pm and I was joking about the water but by the time I got back in the space of about 10 minutes it was up to the window ledge.

Photo Neil Cross'The floods at Galgate'Roy Hull in his kitchen

“The kitchen and front room are devastated. We have lost everything.”

“The front door was buckling under the weight of the water,” Steve said. “We were leaning against it trying to block it. We pushed a duvet and everything we could find to try to stop the water coming in, but there was just too much.”

Steve said vehicles travelling along the A6 through Galgate were making the situation worse for residents.

“Every time a car or lorry came down the road it was sending a tidal wave into the houses,” he said. “We rang the police and said they needed to close the road.”

Photo Neil Cross'Cleaning up after the floods at Galgate

A few doors away, Ben and Heather Freeman are also counting the cost.

“I was asleep and the dog started barking at the door,” Ben said. “The water was at the bottom of the door so we started putting towels against it.